africa

For a period of 5 years, China continued to spy on all electronic communications at the African Union’s headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Chinese spy operation continued throughout this period without being detected until some network administrators at the AU’s headquarters discovered it in January 2017. This is according …

Last month we characterized 2017 as the year Sub-Saharan Africa’s startup scene found its stride. Twenty-eighteen looks to be the year of numerous VC investments. TPG acquires TRACE January got the funding party started. U.S. based private equity firm TPG Growth acquired a majority stake (of an undisclosed value) in entertainment company TRACE. TRACE is …

Private equity and media giants from the U.S. yare starting to pay attention to Africa’s burgeoning music scene. TPG Growth, the middle market and growth equity investment arm of private equity giant TPG, and Evolution Media, the investment and advisory services firm created by Creative Artists Agency and TPG, have …

Kenya wants to go nuclear. Since 2012, Nairobi has been talking the talk and walking the walk. It has engaged the International Atomic Energy Agency and signed multilateral letters of intent in pursuit of nuclear power. To date, Kenya reportedly has memoranda of understanding with Russia, China, South Korea and …

Technological advances associated with the fourth industrial revolution – including artificial intelligence – allow the automation of an increasingly wide array of processes in increasingly interactive and sophisticated ways. These advances will likely give rise to many opportunities for economic and social development in developing countries, for instance by increasing …

I use voice assistants more than most people. My parents have made fun of me barking at my phone to do stuff for years, but I actually enjoy chatting it up with Google, Alexa, and their kin. I just wish they were better at talking to each other. Voices, voices …

African tech in 2017 was about the normalization of market events mostly absent even a decade ago. There were acquisitions, multiple investment rounds, lots of expansion, big strategic partnerships, and some surprise failures. Africa is fast becoming home to a dynamic tech sector. Here’s a snapshot of the news that …

When Nailab (Nairobi Incubation Lab), opened its doors seven years ago in Kenya, it wanted to be the Y Combinator for Kenya, Nailab CEO Sam Gichuru told me. In order to accomplish that goal, Gichuru realized Nailab would need a lot of money, which it did not have at the time. …

In 2016 it appeared Africa would produce its first big tech IPO on a major stock market. As reported in TechCrunch, Nigerian fintech firm Interswitch — which provides much of Nigera’s digital banking and payments infrastructure — was poised for a dual listing on the Lagos and London stock exchanges …

Wildlife conservation groups have made a lot of strides in raising awareness of animals whose populations or natural habitats are endangered, and what we can do to help. Now a startup out of Kenya is tapping into advances made in augmented reality, mapping and app-based games to further the cause. …